This invention relates generally to computed tomography (CT) imaging and more particularly, to reconstructing an image from CT scan data.
In at least one known CT system configuration, an x-ray source projects a fan-shaped beam which is collimated to lie within an X-Y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system and generally referred to as the "imaging plane". The x-ray beam passes through the object being imaged, such as a patient. The beam, after being attenuated by the object, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated beam radiation received at the detector array is dependent upon the attenuation of the x-ray beam by the object. Each detector element of the array produces a separate electrical signal that is a measurement of the beam attenuation at the detector location. The attenuation measurements from all the detectors are acquired separately to produce a transmission profile.
In known third generation CT systems, the x-ray source and the detector array are rotated with a gantry within the imaging plane and around the object to be imaged so that the angle at which the x-ray beam intersects the object constantly changes. A group of x-ray attenuation measurements, i.e., projection data, from the detector array at one gantry angle is referred to as a "view". A "scan" of the object comprises a set of views made at different gantry angles during one revolution of the x-ray source and detector. In an axial scan, the projection data is processed to construct an image that corresponds to a two dimensional slice taken through the object.
One method for reconstructing an image from a set of projection data is referred to in the art as the filtered backprojection technique. This process converts the attenuation measurements from a scan into integers called "CT numbers" or "Hounsfield units", which are used to control the brightness of a corresponding pixel on a cathode ray tube display.
To reduce the total scan time required for multiple slices, a "helical" scan may be performed. To perform a "helical" scan, the patient is moved while the data for the prescribed number of slices is acquired. Such a system generates a single helix from a one fan beam helical scan. The helix mapped out by the fan beam yields projection data from which images in each prescribed slice may be reconstructed.
At least one known filtered-backprojection image reconstruction technique comprises the steps of pre-processing, filtering and backprojection. In the fan-beam geometry, the backprojection process includes a computationally expensive pixel dependent weight factor. Accordingly, to obtain reasonable reconstruction times, it is necessary in the fan-beam geometry to design and develop an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) board to perform the backprojection.
Alternatively, it is possible to rearrange the fan-beam data into parallel data, a process known as rebinning. In the parallel geometry, the pixel-dependent backprojection factor is eliminated. At least some known rebinning procedures include a two step process. In the first step, view data are interpolated view-to-view, azimuthally, to obtain projection data samples, identified as Radon samples, that lie on a radial line, intersecting the origin of Radon space. This geometry is referred to as fan-parallel. The second step in the rebinning procedure comprises a radial interpolation. However, in the reconstruction process, data points are filtered by a high-pass filter in the radial direction. Accordingly, radial interpolation, proceeding from non-evenly spaced, is computationally expensive and may compromise the view high-frequencies.
It would be desirable to provide a reconstruction algorithm that enables image reconstruction directly from fan parallel data. It would also be desirable to provide such a reconstruction algorithm that does not require rebinning of the fan beam data. Further, it would be desirable to provide a detector for direct generation of parallel data.